How to Use Print Layout and Draft View in Word 2007

You can use the Print Layout and Draft (normal) views in Word 2007 to work in your documents. The words you write appear in the center part of the program window. That pallid vista is the equivalent of a blank sheet of paper, and the documents you create on that electronic sheet of paper look just the way they will when they’re eventually printed on a real sheet of paper. Such is the magic of word processing.

Although Word lets you view the blank sheet in five different ways, Print Layout and Draft (Normal) are the most popular for wordsmiths.

Print Layout view in Word 2007

Activate this view by clicking the status bar's Print Layout button.

In Print Layout view, you get to see the entire page, just as it prints. Graphical images, columns, and all sorts of other fancy items show up on the page fully visible.

Draft view in Word 2007

Set this view by clicking the Draft button on the status bar.

Draft view is favored by writers who don't really want to clutter the page with anything other than text. In Draft view, you see your text and not the fancy graphics, columns, headers, page breaks, and other things that clutter Print Layout mode.

Word automatically switches to Print Layout view from Draft view when necessary. So, when you're working in Draft view and you want to edit a header or insert a picture, Print Layout view is activated. You need to manually switch back to Draft view, if that's your preferred way of using Word.